Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Lars arrives; Reddick returns

After a thoroughly depressing weekend, things livened up a little at Fenway today as Lars Anderson was called up and made his Major League debut.

Assuming the Red Sox don’t climb back into contention, following Anderson’s development will be one of the fascinating aspects of the season.

There is a lot to like about the big lefty hitter. The question is this: How much power will he grow into? Anderson has taken leaps and bounds this year, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Josh Reddick also re-appeared today for the fourth time this season. Reddick had a blazing-hot second half down the stretch for Pawtucket.

How much playing time Reddick and Anderson get will be dictated mainly by what happens in the standings. Translation: If the Red Sox don’t sweep the Rays, you are going to see a lot of both those guys going forward.

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17 Comments

Welcome to September baseball for the Red Sox, the kids seeing some action on a big league diamond. Which youngster will turn into a jewel? Will any of them? When Anderson was going through the system, some people compared him to Justin Morneau. Who knows if he’ll be half as good as Morneau but maybe he’ll be better. Then again he could turn into a total dud. The one negative about Anderson getting some playing time is it will be at the expense of Mike Lowell but that is how it goes sometimes.

Speaking of the future, Desmond Jennings is up for T.B. Chances are he’ll be the new left fielder for T.B. when Crawford leaves for free agency at the end of their season, whenever that will be.

Coello is looking like Toby Borland! LOL! Where did they find this kid? He looks like some kid that would be making pizza in the window down at some pizza joint in the north end! LOL!!

Just thought I would pass this along. Ramon Ramirez who Boston traded to S.F. back on July 31 is pitching quite well with the Giants. His last 10 appearances….11.2 I.P. only 2 runs allowed, his walk total is a little high with six of them during this stretch. Not bad for a guy that couldn’t get anyone out in Boston. Is it a change of scenery? Weaker lineups in the N.L.? Whatever it is, he is pitching much better. How come the “genius” pitching coach couldn’t turn him around in Boston?

Brian:
I was about to mention those F^&*%^ reject pitchers from the Red Sox suddenly become genuis pitchers albeit in the weaker league against weaker lineup. Not just Ram Ram, I can think of Dave Ardsma in the early going with the Mariners. There are others the names just escape me.
Not to take anything away from Atchison and Oki, by the time they came to pitch, Maddon has alreday conceded the game and pulled his regulars from the lineup.
A win is a win. If the Sox can and must sweep the Rays, a dim light of hope is still flickering.

Quite true about Aardsma, he made the All Star team last year as the Mariners closer. Since Aardsma left Boston ( after the 2008 season ) he has 66 saves with Seattle. Aardsma in his only season in Boston had issues throwing strikes, walked way too many. I’m not saying it’s Farrell’s fault entirely but I don’t think that Farrell deserves a free pass as well.

What I could never figure out is why did Boston keep Delcarmen but get rid of Aardsma? It was very clear to me that Delcarmen was never ever going to make it in Boston. Delcarmen showed some promise but his overall work in Boston was a total disaster! Safe to say Theo messed that one up!!

J.C. Romero was another guy that Boston ( I believe that was the right move ) got rid of and found a home in Philly. Joel Pinero( once again I agree with that one as well ) was another one that couldn’t get anyone out in Boston but went elsewhere and did much better. Maybe these pitchers couldn’t take the heat in Boston! Sometimes it’s a change of scenery but then again it could be a coach as well. Look at Nick Swisher, his only season in Chicago was a disaster but played a key role in the Yankees title last season and is having another solid season in N.Y. I think it could be multiple factors when a player struggles on a certain team. At times that player might clash with his manager/coach or for some reason just doesn’t feel comfortable in a certain environment. I find it interesting that some of these guys can’t get anyone out in Boston but went elsewhere and did well. When Theo and the baseball ops. dept. is looking to fill a hole, do they put any consideration in the players “makeup”???? Getting outs in front of friends and family in K.C. is one thing but doing it in Boston is another story. We were all lead to believe that Ramon Ramirez could close on occasion when Papelbon wasn’t available. Safe to say Theo and his baseball guys missed on that one. Ramirez was “great” for the first two months of the 2009 season but wasn’t effective after that. He also had the “deer in headlights look” in Anaheim last October during game #2. Word had it during the trading deadline that Boston looked into getting Masterson back, now that’s a guy that could handle the “pressure” in Boston. Arroyo was another guy that embraced the “pressure” of Boston!

Brian:
I thought about the garbage in Boston like JC Romero and Joel Pinero. But I wasn’t sure Farrell was the pitching coach when they left.
Theo should borne the blame for doing nothing to boost the bullpen at the trade deadline. Theo kept bringing up kids who are not ready for the ML. Bucky has good unhittable stuff and yet he worries so much about the base runners after 1 out has been recorded. I wonder why Farrell didn’t tell Bucky to concentrate on the hitter and not on the base runner. Maybe he did. Then what’s in Bucky’s head? The throwing error at least 2 games. Is it pitching coach’s job to teach the pitcher how and when to pick off a base runner?
Imagine if Paps (and Bard) saved 90% of the save opportunities, where the Sox could be standing wise.
There are so many blames to go around not just one single factor.
Theo has the work cut out for him in the long and painful winter.
The Sox have to score at least 4 runs to win tonight.

You got it right finally at the very end 007 when you mentioned Theo. He is the problem pure and simple. Last winter the focus was supposed to be the bullpen and signing Josh Beckett. WEll?The Beckett signing, is he really good enough to tie that much money up? Sox lineup is okay w/o injuries. Starting pitchers are overrated but okay, except Bucholz who could think better and field his position better as all the pitchers could. Sox lost game at TB cause Bucholz just had to hold Pena on first with broken foot, a micrcosm of his thinking process sometimes. This year is over. Pitchers please be professional about the little things, learn how to hold down opponents running game, backup bases, (What was Papelbon doing when White Sox hitters were stretching singles into doubles and no one was covering second?)Defensive indifference, what is that? Hard to watch. Tampa Bay is ahead of the Sox because they do all these things well and can manufacture runs allowing them to comeback in games. They play the game the right way. How many games did the sox come back in the last two innings to win? Tampa Bay should be a model for the Sox to pattern after and much more fun to watch. I hope the sox will make some better moves in the offseason with their bullpen.
My recipe for next year: 1. Starting pitching – same guys, but take fielding and holding runners more seriously, 2. Gut the bullpen except Bard and Papelbon, spend the money 3. Keep infield intact, but redo outfield except Ellsbury. None of the young guys are good enough yet and are not run manufacturers, just weaker clones of Drew.

I wonder if Theo would be interested in signing sixty-three year old Bill Lee? LOL! He couldn’t do any worse than these rag tag arms they have in the bullpen. Manny Delcarmen where are you???? HA…HA..HA…Joe Price anyone??? lol.

A loss is a loss. It doesn’t matter lose by 1 run or 20 runs. What makes the managemnt think those garbage pitchers (with the exception of Prince Felix) at Pawtucket can’t get the minor leaguers out can turnaround and suddenly become a ML pitchers.
Note to uncle Tito: Stop panicking and start Wakefield tomorrow. It’s too late. Sit back and relax and enjoy the game.

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